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VANCOUVER, B.C. — The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Highways is considering an expansion of a program that allows special operating permits for extra-long trucks, otherwise known as Rocky Mountain doubles.

A pilot project was started last summer, permitting eight Rocky Mountain doubles to travel between Kamloops and the Lower Mainland, according to a recent story in the Vancouver Province. These vehicles have two trailers, one long and one shorter, and stretch 31 metres from grille to taillights which is six metres longer than the standard legal maximum in B.C.

There have been no accidents or problems involving the longer trucks, and more of them may be allowed to make the Coquihalla Highway run, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon has stated. The government may eventually allow the longer trucks to run on other highways in B.C., but won’t be permitted on any highways in winter, added Falcon.

The vehicles will not be allowed to carry more weight than standard semi trailers. The double-trailer trucks cut fuel consumption by 30%, and the longer units cut the number of trucks on the road, according to B.C. Trucking Association president, Paul Landry, who approves of the plan because of fuel and personnel efficiency. Landry says the BCTA initially promoted the initial pilot project to the provincial government.

“We put this forward five years ago,” Landry told TruckNews.com.

–with files from Vancouver Province

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